The Truth About Purity
by puppylove98
Summary: Purity Truth, an innocent woman of nineteen and undisputed medical genius, is exiled from her home into the brutality of the wastes as a result of her father's treachery. Idealism slipping away as she realizes the wasteland's depravity and struggles to survive each day, can she find goodness and love even in darkness? Or will the Wasteland claim the humanity of yet another victim?
1. Prologue

**A/N:** Hi guys! Thanks for reading. If you have any suggestions or comments, please leave a review below or send me a PM. I promise, I don't bite :) Most of the time. :D

Have a great week everybody! Hell, shoot for something bigger. Have a great freaking life! :) **xoxo- angel**

**Disclaimer_: _All Fallout 3 content belongs to Bethesda Company.**

* * *

Exhaustion. Pure and unadulterated exhaustion was all Truth felt. It gnawed at her bones, made her muscles tremble, and her vision blur. Her skin burned hotly from the scathing sun that had loomed over her head for days. Glaring up towards it, she would've sworn it was there simply to torment her. Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth from thirst, and her hands shook from fatigue. She felt something sticky and warm on her feet, most likely her own blood leaking from her abused soles. Her bullet wound burned, and she cradled her dislocated shoulder to her body.

Looking around, she couldn't help but keep her eyes mostly closed; the light in the vault had been subtle and soothing. However, the brightness from the sun that smothered her made her eyes leak tears almost constantly. She willed it to stop, knowing that she was already severely dehydrated. She knew the body's limitations very well; she wouldn't last another few hours without water.

When she had awoken three days before, she had thought it would be like any other day. Wake up, shower, get dressed, research with Father, go to school, come home and research some more. Perhaps practice her surgical techniques on the radroaches that were always annoyingly present in the Vault, or convince Amata to come play her favorite strategy games with her. Knowing her beautiful friend, they would most likely end up talking about Amata's crush of the week then move on to share their annoyances about her father, the Overseer.

Truth had been killing herself for years, both mentally and physically, to become the most brilliant medical mind the present world, and hopefully the future world, would ever know. It was no lie that she had a horrifyingly adaptable aptitude for all things medical. They fascinated her to her core, and she pushed herself to know everything she could about human physiology and anatomy. When that limited knowledge ran out, which it had several years ago, she decided to venture out into the world of research, as much of what the old world had known had been lost. Studying microphysiology, pathology, old-world terminology, and even the effects of radiation on human and animal tissues had consumed her for years. Her studies had yielded marvelous results, all of which she had planned on one day revealing to the surface. She had become more than adapt at surgery, operating quickly and skillfully with her father at her side. She had never lost a patient, something that she took great pride in.

She had always wanted to be a surgeon for multiple reasons. She loved people, and wanted to help anyone she could, regardless of circumstances. Her heart was soft and tender to anything living; she hadn't even been able to kill the mice in the vault for years. But that wasn't it; the very essence of medicine and the human body completely fascinated her. When her father had told her of the radiation that poisoned the land above the vault, she took a vow to help cure it and the people in it. When she had sworn to her father that she would one day do everything and anything in her power to help whoever she could on the surface, she had meant it.

If someone would have asked her three days ago whether she would consider killing someone, even in self defense, she would have immediately been horrified at the question. Human life was a precious and beautiful thing to her; she could never destroy something so extraordinary. It was against everything she stood for, against everything she believed in.

Gazing at her hands, she couldn't help but let out a hopelessly defeated laugh. Blood was caked on both of them and splattered all across her face and sky blue jumpsuit. Everything about her reeked from the tangy smell of iron. Tears rolled down her cheeks and splattered on her palms as she studied her hands, streaking the color across her palms even further. Turning away in a rush, she vomited once again. She gagged on the acrid taste of her stomach acid and wiped her mouth with the only clean part of her sleeve.

After being exiled from the vault, Truth had been relieved when she had spotted someone. A _real _person, not simply a hallucination from the heat. She had already been hiking across the wastes for a day out in the sun, and was exhausted from it. She had never been exposed to radiation or UV rays, as she had always been protected by the comforting recesses of the vault. But there he was, and she had been ignorant enough to call out to him. She had noticed that he had weapons before she had said anything, but thought nothing of it. After all, the wasteland was a barren, desiccated corpse filled with monstrous creature after monstrous creature. It made sense that he would have something with which to protect himself. What didn't make sense to her then, and certainly didn't now, was why he had taken such great pleasure in causing her so much pain.

What had she done wrong?

* * *

_Truth stumbled along, staring at the crumbling road beneath her feet. She didn't know where she was going, how she would get there, or even why she was attempting to survive. Her father had abandoned her without a word to go to the surface, something that was unforgivable in the Overseer's eyes. He had immediately suspected her involvement despite her proven passivity throughout the years. She wasn't a loyal follower of the Overseer, true, but she did as she was told if it didn't affect those that she loved in a malicious way. He beat her, accused her, threatened her, and even threatened his own daughter, Amata, in the hope of finding out something of her father's whereabouts. The fact that she hadn't known anything, not a single thing, about why her father had left and where he had gone had pained her much more than the physical blows that the Overseer dealt her. _

_Why had her father abandoned her without another word? Had she done something wrong? Was he ashamed of her, tired of being bogged down by her presence? Did he not love her anymore?_

_Had she failed him somehow?_

_Her vision blurred with more unshed tears, but she quickly wiped them away. She had to survive to find her father. Even if he didn't love her anymore, she loved him more than she had ever loved anyone. He and Amata were the only people who had ever meant anything to her; she loved them both with a passion, and nothing they could do would stop her from loving them the way they did. _

_And yet, despite everything he had done to make her believe otherwise, she couldn't help but have complete faith in him. He still loved her, she just knew he did, so he had to have left her down there in that vault for a good reason. Perhaps he was too scared to take her with him; he had constantly spoken to her about the dangers of the outside world when she would try to convince him to leave together, and she knew that he wanted nothing more than to protect her from anything that could possibly harm her. _

_That had to be it._

_However, she didn't understand what he was so concerned about. Despite the obvious heat and dry air, the wasteland really wasn't all that bad. She hadn't seen a single living thing, and if she did encounter anyone, she hoped they would need some form of medical assistance or something else she could help with. Maybe she could trade her skills for some water, or even some information. After all, people were all inherently good on the inside. That said, they might even help her get her bearings out of honor. The problem was actually finding said people. Her pip boy was being utterly useless, as it couldn't direct her to more than a few obscure landmarks. It would probably locate an old satellite and sync eventually, but for now Truth was stuck out here on her own._

_That thought had barely enough time to fully register in her mind before she saw a large silhouette against the setting sun. A man, it looked like, and he was armed to the teeth. His weapons weren't drawn, however. He wasn't the cleanliest of people, but Truth could hardly blame him for that; she hadn't found any water to drink, much less enough to bathe in. His sun bleached brown hair and brown eyes were sights she was accustomed to, but his dark, tanned skin made her cock her head. It was a strange sight. Some of the vault residents were naturally more darkly colored, but it looked different than someone who had gotten their coloration from being out in the sun._

_Without preamble, Truth raised her arms, and waved at him in what she really hoped was a friendly manner. Were the social idiosyncrasies different on the surface than underground in the vault? She certainly hoped not. She hardly wanted to offend the first person she met. If all turned out well, maybe he would even be willing to travel with her, perhaps help her find her father and she could help him in whatever ways possible. Smiling, she chided herself slightly; she would help this person with whatever he needed regardless of whether he could, or would, help her. __That's just how her daddy had always raised her; to always do the right thing, regardless of what the people around you did._

"_Excuse me!" She said, waving again with a large smile. "I'm sorry to intrude, but I'm uh kind of new here, I guess you could say… Anyways, any chance you could help out a friend in need?" _

"_And what would a pretty lil thing like you be doing out here all alone?" The man asked her, walking forward. _"_Don't ya know that there are real bad people out here, princess? Real bad people that would love to carve your skin right off your bones while hearing ya scream. Be real careful now. I wouldn't want to see such a perfect face gettin' all bloodied up." he continued. His tone made her uncomfortable, and she shifted her weight backwards. The urge to run called to her, but she ignored it; she was just a little scared and being paranoid. Surely he didn't mean any harm; she hadn't done anything to provoke it, right?_

"_I was just wondering if there's a colony, maybe a city or something out around her somewhere? A place where I can find water, or maybe some people who know of intact medical facilities?" She asked hopefully._

_He didn't reply, instead simply steadily stalking forward and drawing their weapons. A shiver went up Truth's spine when he got close enough for her to see his face; he was smiling, but it wasn't a smile of warmth. It was the smile of taking pleasure in something; it was a smile of anticipation. Judging by the dark red stains on his clothing and the small pieces of hair and skin that still hung from the man's metal pipe, Truth had a decent idea of what that something was. _

_Carnage. Bloody massacre. Annihilation. Butchery._

_The man slowly licked his lips, scanning her body from head to toe with his primal look of anticipation. Truth thought she was going to be sick. Slowly, she started backing away with her arms raised is supplication. _

"_I can show you to real nice lil place not far from here. If you're a good girl, I might even let you work your magic hands on me" The man said, greasy face contorting in a crude smile._

"_Actually, I think maybe I had better go. I- I remember where I'm supposed to be going now. Sorry for bothering you." She said, senses now screaming at her to run._

"_Not so fast honey. I haven't had fresh meat in ages; I was looking forward to eating you all up." He said, now directly in front of Truth. He ran his dirty fingers down Truth's cheek, hands strolling past her face to slide down her neck and across her chest._

_Truth slapped his hand away, eyes going wide at the depravity the man showed. From the man's perspective, Truth was nothing but an animal to be used and butchered. All thoughts of attempting to persuade him to leave her alone fled her mind when the man pulled out a long, serrated blade. Backing away in fear, Truth stumbled on a rock, falling to the ground. The man immediately struck, kicking Truth in the side. It sent her rolling down a steep incline, scattering dust into the air. She jumped up as quickly as she could to her feet, running with all her might away from her assailant. Escape was her only survival option. _

_Her side burned where he had kicked her, and it was getting difficult to breath. Her skin ached where it had scraped against the hot sand, and sweat poured from her brow, obscuring her vision. Desperately, Truth looked around for some sort of escape. A large outcrop of rocks was nearby, no more than a few hundred feet; it wouldn't provide her much, but it was possible that she could lose him in it. A large crevice ran up one side, easily large enough for someone to hide themselves in. The sun had almost set, casting the desert into a murky purple twilight. _

_The man must have sensed her intention to lose him as she ran for her life, for he pulled out his pistol, cocked it, aimed it, and shot. The bullet struck Truth in the leg, forcing her to the ground in agony. She couldn't help the scream that came from her mouth at the pain. She cupped the wound with her hand, chancing a glance down at it. It was bleeding horribly, but she had to leave it for now; she had to get away from him. If she didn't, he would kill her. She could see it in his face. _

_She dragged herself along the few remaining feet to the outcropping, using the rock wall to help her stand. Running around the corner for some cover, Truth listened for the sounds of pursuit. She couldn't hear anything, senses filled with nothing but pain. The bullet wound in her thigh burned like hellfire. Clenching her teeth, she willed herself to ignore it and focus on escaping. Determined, she decided that she wouldn't allow him to kill her; she still had too much to live for. Her father was out there somewhere possibly needing and missing her, and Amata was still back in the vault, trapped by the watchful eyes of the Overseer. Not to mention there had to be more people in the wastes; good people. People who needed her help._

_People who she would save if it was the last thing she did._

_A bullet whizzed by her head, shattering the rock wall above her. Her heart hammered in her ears, drowning out almost everything else. Her breathing was ragged, her body pumping out adrenaline. She had never been so terrified in her life. This man really wanted to kill her, but why? What had she done to him? Was he truly just that cruel?_

_Finally, she reached the segment of the rock wall that contained the crack, scaling it as quickly as she could with her throbbing leg. Tucking herself into the hidden crevice, she held her breath as she heard her pursuer approaching. The night had set quickly, obscuring everything in shadows. At least the sun no longer pained her._

"_Come on, princess! We were going to have so much fun tonight. You wouldn't want to spoil that for me, would you bunny?"_

_He passed in front of her hiding spot and continued on, scanning the proximity for her. Releasing her breath in a sobbing sigh of relief, she drew her scalpel from out of her pocket, cutting off part of her jacket as a tourniquet to stop the blood that still oozed from the wound. If she were lucky, the bullet hadn't hit the femoral artery; if she were unlucky, she wouldn't need to concern herself with finding water. She'd be dead by morning. Looking at the dark crimson that splattered across her blue jumpsuit, she felt dizzy and disoriented. The world leaned to one side, making her place her hand on the rock to keep her balance._

_She hadn't heard any signs of the man for awhile now. Perhaps he was gone, and she could seek help-_

"_Found you, princess." That cruel voice from above her said._

_Truth gasped, launching herself from her hiding place to start running once again. The man jumped down from the rock face, walking towards her calmly. She held the scalpel between them in shaking hands, and was ashamed when she felt tears of fear roll down her face. She was so tired and dizzy; she couldn't stop them from slithering down her cheeks and dropping onto her chest._

"_Please- I don't understand! I don't even know- know you… I just, I just need some water. I didn't mean any- any harm and I don't have anything you'd even want! I'm not-"_

"_Begging, princess? Are you trying to make me enjoy this even more?" He asked her, eyes wide and crazy. "Because it's working."_

_He swung out repeatedly with the metal pipe he carried, pummeling Truth again and again. She tried to shield herself against his blows, but was forced to the ground. She tried to get up and run, scrambling along the still warm ground. He hit her again across the shoulder, and Truth heard a loud crack. Her arm went limp, and pain shot through her entire body. The man grabbed her arm, wrenching her around and forcing her to the ground in front of him. He knocked her scalpel out of her hands, sending it scattering across the dirt. He pinned her down, forcing her legs apart with his. Running his tongue along her neck, she rammed her forehead into his nose, satisfied when he released her arms to grab at his face._

_Reaching for her scalpel, she instinctively brought it forward, ramming it with all her strength into the side of his neck. He swayed on top of her slightly, eyes wide and unbelieving. A dribble of blood ran out of his mouth, and she heard more gurgling in his throat. He collapsed onto the ground beside her, gasping for air. Grasping at the knife with wild movements, he stared up at Truth as she stared back, horrified._

"_Dear God," she whispered to the empty wastes around her. "What have I done?"_

_Scrambling over to him on her hands and knees, she held his neck gently, drawing out the scalpel. She cupped the wound, removing her jacket and using it to apply pressure._

"_Just- just hold still I can- I can fix this! I can fix this. I just need- I just need to… to…." She couldn't think; what was the first step in trauma wounds? Should she try to stop the blood flow now, or bind it and hope to get to a better facility? Shifting the cloth to get a better grip, the blood spurt forth from underneath her hands, splattering her across the face. Removing her shaking hands quickly, she tried to find the artery. If she could pinch it off, she could stop the bleeding and save him. She just had to find the artery! _

"_Where the hell are you?" She screamed at the bloody mess. She had to find the bleeding if he had even the slightest chances of survival, but she couldn't see anything. If she found it, she could possibly suture him back up. He could survive. She could save him! She had to save him. She had to-_

_The blood stopped rushing forth from the wound, and the light left from the man's eyes as he let out a final gurgle of blood. He went limp in her arms, the sand around him stained a dark crimson. His heart had stopped._

_His glassy eyes stared up at the starry sky, mouth still open and face contorted. Pounding on his chest, she tried to start his heart again. Her hands kept slipping across his chest, slick from the amount of blood that covered them both. Looking down at him, she knew he wouldn't be coming back. He had lost far too much blood. She would never get his heart started again._

_She had killed him. She had used her scalpel, her most treasured instrument of healing and hope, to murder a human being. His brown eyes seemed to stare at her accusingly. Retching on the ground beside him, she felt her entire body begin to shake._

_She had killed him._

_He was dead because of her._

_She had… she had-_

_Scrambling backwards on the dirt and away from him until her back hit the rock wall, she looked down at her convulsively shaking hands. They were covered to the elbows in blood. His blood? Her blood? It hardly mattered now. She was a murderer. Her right hand still somehow clung to the scalpel. She dropped the thing, throwing the wretched tool on the ground as if it had burned her._

"_No… not a wretched tool. The only wretched thing here is me." She whispered to herself, curling her head between her knees. She sobbed, the blood staining her face now streaking with her hot tears._

* * *

So here she stood two days later, blindly picking up and putting down one foot after the other. Guilty, dirty, and almost broken past the point of no return. Her pip boy still had yet to connect to any remaining satellites, which meant that she was stranded in the middle of nowhere with absolutely no idea how to get her bearings. It would be appropriate should she die out her in the wastes; she had killed that man, and karma always had a way of coming back to bite her. This was apparently a sign that she would atone for her sins by dying.

Just as she was about to give up hope, to curl up in the dessert somewhere shady to go to sleep and never wake up again, her pip boy lit up, giving off a merry beep. With a rapidly beating heart and quivering fingers, she pulled up her map and-

"Yes!" She called out into the dessert in triumph. The map showed a small civilized area, Megaton, not even a mile away from where she stood. She could get there. It would be hard, but she could do it. She thanked God, knowing that this was a chance to redeem herself. Vowing to never harm another human soul again, she began walking north west in the direction of the town. Even though he had hurt her, she gave up a prayer for the man who she had murdered. She would always remember him, and fight to ensure that other people didn't fall to his level of depravity. Glancing at her blood soaked hands, a new thought hit her as she clenched her fists and ground her teeth with a glare. She would ensure that no one would need to fall to _her_ level of depravity.

For the first time since she had been exiled from the vault, Truth had hope for the future. She had hope for the people she would find in need of aid, and she had hope that perhaps she could one day put a little bit of beauty back into the barren wastes. Disease surely ran rampant out here, and she would be the one to help those who couldn't help themselves. She hoped that she would be able to study these new diseases, creating vaccines and treatments. Perhaps study the mutated animals and see if she could genetically reconstruct their pre-war genes. She hoped she would be able to find her father, and help him with whatever mad quest had made him leave her. But most of all, she hoped that she could atone herself for killing that man.

Hope.

It was all she had, but for now, it was all she needed. She would have smiled, but her mouth was so dry that she thought she would crack her lips. With the thought of water renewed in her mind, she picked up her step with as much spring as she could muster.


	2. Awakening in Megaton

**A/N:** Hey everybody! Here's the second chapter, and please stay tuned for more! As you'll find out, I might've made a few not so minor changes to Doctor Church, but hey, that's what fanfictions are for! ;) Oh, and this chapter is dedicated to my first awesome follower, **Daelron898!** Love you, man.

* * *

"God damnit Leo, I'm not selling to you. You don't look sick, and you sure as hell aren't dead. The only thing I allow the use of Jet for is pain, and I can tell you're not in any. Get out of here before I call your family." A deep, smooth voice was saying, forcing Truth to come back from the edge of her wonderful oblivion. She knew if she went back to the world of the living, she would be in a lot of pain. Grabbing her blankets, she brought them up and over her heard, ignoring the voices.

A string of curses came floating into her rooms, different from the first voice. Truth heard a door open and slam, then heavy footsteps walking towards her that forced her from her dreams.

"Huh. Looks like you're alive. I have to say, I thought you were dead, kid. Whoever patched ya up did a hell of a job. You're lucky you didn't bleed out, and even luckier you didn't die on my table. I would've been pissed as hell if I had a dead body to take care of." The voice said. Truth's covers were ripped away from over her body, and she flinched against the cold air. Curling her knees up to her chest in a tight ball, Truth ignored the man beside her bed. She had to get back to sleep! She was just on the verge, the very stinking verge, of discovering a cure for aspartyglucosaminuria!

"Come on now, up you go. You need to get some water in that body of yours. Though _damn_ girl, I wouldn't go out in the sun for the next few days, or a week if you can manage it. I've never seen so much sunburn before. What'd you do, decide it would be a good idea to go walking around in the middle of day without any kind of protection?" He asked her. She just looked at him confused, her innocent eyes wide.

"Should I not have?" She asked in a croak.

"Jesus freakin' christ, you did, didn't you?" He asked, mouth dropping open. Putting a hand on her back to help her sit up, he quickly handed her a glass of water. She drank it greedily, though choked on it slightly. He pounded her back until she stopped, and placed a few more pillows behind her. Putting the glass down on the bed stand, she groaned as a headache pounded through her temples and her leg throbbed. Looking down at it, she saw that her thigh had several layers of bandages wrapped around it, and couldn't quite recall why. In a rush, what she had been through the past few days came back to her. Laying back down with another load groan of protest, she turned away from the man at her side.

"Yeah, yeah I did. I'm guessing now that it wasn't such a great idea. Where am I? What happened?" She asked, covering her eyes from the light that made them water.

"You tell me, kid. Simms found you outside of Megaton, passed out and bleeding like a bitch in heat." He said. Grabbing her arm to give her shoulder a test, he moved it in all directions as she clenched her teeth in pain.

"Huh. Not bad. You'll have limited mobility for another week or two, but nothing you won't recover from." He said, satisfied with himself.

"_Another _week or two? How long have I been out?" She asked, pinching the bridge of her nose. She regretted do so as soon as she realized how sore her skin was from exposure to the sun. That rotten, rotten sun.

"Eh, I'd say about nine days, give or take. I didn't pay you much attention; I was busy treating patients who I actually like. And the ones that actually pay." He said with a glower in her direction. "You're a real lucky girl to be alive, though whoever treated your leg did some nice work. It's pretty damn rare not to find infection settling in with stitches that deep."

"I'm surprised it didn't. Either I'm the luckiest patient alive, or my water actually worked." She said, impressed with herself.

"Water?" he asked. "Care to explain?"

"I figured that if I soaked it in a pool of irradiated water for long enough, some of the bacteria would die off. Though I wasn't sure if the water had enough radiation in it, or if I had even exposed it for long enough. Or if the stuff would just kill me before the infection spread. But I guess I was right after all." She said with a happy smile.

"If you had water available, why didn't you drink it? You were so close to dying that I had to shove a watering tube down your throat so you didn't shrivel up. If you hadn't been so dehydrated, I could've saved my tube for someone else." He said, crossing his arms with a glare. Blankly, she looked at him with a look of disbelief on her face.

"It had _radiation _in it. You know, the kind that makes you _die?_" She said, not believing he had asked her that question.

"Only if you haven't been exposed to it for as long as we have. The water isn't that potent. I don't even taste the radiation anymore." He said, shrugging.

"I've never been exposed to radiation in my life." She explained. "I was born and raised in a vault; I hadn't even ever seen the sun when I first came out. Uhg, that dreadful sun. Why does it have to be so bright?" She asked, cupping her face with her hands from the memory of her encounter with the god awful star.

"Huh, I see. You know, a man came through here not too long ago from a vault too. Did it get a leak and flood or something? From what I understood, no one leaves the vault if they actually get accepted into it. It's supposedly a lot better than this hell-hole."

"A man? Was he tall, middle-aged, with gray hair and bright blue eyes?" She asked, sitting up with a hopeful face.

"Yeah, you know him?" The doc asked while he tested the forward rotation on her shoulder.

"He's my father." She said, relieved tears springing to her eyes. "I can't believe he's here! Can I see him now?" She asked, grabbing his arm pleadingly.

"Hey now, don't cry kid." He said, awkwardly patting her on the top of the head. The last time he had been touched without foul intent had been _years_. It felt strange, though that made sense. The kid was a strange girl. White as a sheet of paper in the places she wasn't sunburned, and red where she was. The color had faded, but when she had first been brought in, she looked like a tiny tomato. His heart had ached when he had seen the state she was in, something that wasn't normal for him. He was used to seeing fatal wounds, arms and legs that he had to amputate, and everything in-between. But she had just looked so... innocent. So beautiful and young, but on the verge of death. It had touched a part of his soul that he had thought long dead.

"I'm sorry, I've just had a couple bad days." She said with a self-depreciating smile. "Can I see him now please?" Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she tried to stand up. Little lights blinked across her vision, and she lurched forward.

"Woah there!" The doctor said, scooping her up into his arms and placing her back on the bed. You need to stay off that leg. Someone stitched it up, but the stitches were loose when you were brought in. We need to watch them carefully, alright? They should be fine until I need to remove them,_ if_ you stay in your bed. Which, by the way, I'm now confining you to. Doctor's orders."

"But my father-"

"Isn't here any longer. Sorry, I don't know where he went or how long ago, but I'm sure you can ask the sheriff when he pops in his head to check on you." Sighing with a downcast face, she nodded in resignation. She knew he was right; she was the one who had treated her wound, so she knew how bad it was, and how precariously placed the sutures were. A tear slid down her cheek, but this time for different reasons entirely. He had been here; had she just come straight here, she could've been with him now. Wiping her cheek with a course thumb, the doctor sat on the bed beside her.

"I'm sure you'll find him, kid. In the meantime," he said, handing her another glass of water. "why don't you tell me who patched you up?"

"I did the sutures and took out the bullet myself. My hands were shaking and it hurt so bad that I didn't do a very good job at tying them off, so it's not too much of a surprise that they came loose. I had to hurry and get it closed before I blacked out, and _man_ was it slippery without forceps to pinch it off." She said, grimacing at the memory.

"Girl, you're tryin' to make me believe that you closed yourself up, after taking out a bullet, without the proper tools? You're just a kid! There's no way. Hell, I'm surprised you can tie your own shoes without help." He said, not believing her for a second.

Harumphing, she puffed out her chest in indignation. "Hey now! I'll have you know that I've been studying medicine with my dad since I was a kid, and I'm pretty stinking good at it! No, I take that back. I'm fan-_freaking_-tastic at it." She said, crossing her arms with a pout.

"Since you were a kid? You _are_ a kid." He said, smirking infuriatingly.

"I'll have you know I'm nineteen, so I'm very much an adult." She said, leaning back onto the wall behind her bed. "And my age doesn't detract from my skill, thank you very much. I'm marvelous at neurological surgeries, though I excel at cardiothoracic and plastics. I just began a study of Alzheimer's, and I think I'm coming close to isolating the genes. If only I had a genome mapper, I would be the happiest woman to ever breath! I already know that it's dominantly inherited on an autsomal- "

"Uh-huh. Whatever you say, kid. Whatever you say. Maybe you got hit on the head and I missed it because of that nest up there." He interrupted, picking up a chart from the bedside table. He had no clue what she was talking about. His medical knowledge was minute at best, but she seemed to know a surprising amount. He was somewhat impressed.

Reaching up to feel her long, curly honey blonde tresses, Truth grimaced. She could tell without a mirror that it was the most matted it had ever been in her life.

"You want to tell me how you got so beat up?" He asked her while scratching down some paperwork.

"I think that's something that we'd both like to hear, little lady." Said a masculine voice from outside her room. A dark-skinned man walked in, perhaps in his early forties or so, with a cowboy hat on his head and sheriff's star on his chest. His brown leather coat reached down to his knees, and his pants were tucked into cowboy boots. He had crow's feet around his eyes, and a bushy brown beard on his face. Cocking her head at him, she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Had the surface world adopted an old-world western style? Fascinating.

Glancing at the doctor who had awoken her, she couldn't help but notice the differences in their appearances. His skin was tanned, but his hair had begun to grey and he wore a simple white tee and cargo pants with a white physician's coat over it. He wore combat boots on his feet instead of cowboy boots, and had a pistol tucked into his pants. His face had a few day's growth of stubble on it, and his hair was ruffled as if he had repeatedly run his hands through it. Strangely, he looked pretty young despite the graying hair, and had the most beautiful cerulean eyes. Then again, who was she to talk about young doctors? The doctor was the strangest looking man she had ever seen with his piercing gaze, though not in a bad way. With a blush, she realized that he was actually quite handsome.

_'Knock it off, Truth!' _She thought to herself harshly. She had never had a crush before, something that she intended to keep up. Any romantic involvement would only serve to distract her from her work; from her purpose in life. Besides, she didn't even know the guy.

"Are you Mr. Simms?" She asked the man dressed in western clothing.

"Call me Lucas or Sheriff. Mr. Simms was my father." He said with a smile. She reached out to shake his hand vigorously, receiving a slightly shocked look. Both of the men seemed perplexed when she had touched them. Did surface dwellers not touch each other in friendly manners?

"Thank you, Lucas. Doctor B. here told me that you found me and brought me here. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. I'm glad to see that I found a good person out here. After my warm welcome into the Wasteland, I wasn't sure there were any." She said, pointing with her thumb at the doctor by her bedside.

"Doctor B.?" The doc asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"Doctor Broody." She clarified with a sweet, innocent smile in his direction. Grunting, he turned back to his chart, scribbling something down.

"Ha! 'bout time someone said something about it besides me. If the shoe fits, you might as well wear it, Church." Not looking up from his chart, he grunted again.

"Church?" She asked.

"His real name, though I'll pay you twenty caps to keep calling him broody. He needs it; keeps him humble." Lucas said with a jolly laugh. His brown eyes twinkled with joy as Church's face fell into a glare. He grumbled something under his breath, still not looking up from his charts. Truth let out a laugh, which made both the sheriff and doctor stare at her strangely. Looking between them, she raised her eyebrows.

"What?" She asked.

"How old are you, little lady?" The sheriff asked.

"Nineteen. Why do you ask?" She replied. Lucas looked at Church with a shocked look, to which the doctor seemed to silently agree with something. "Is there something I'm missing? Does my face really look that bad?"

"Nothing to worry about, kid. You just have a real young aura. Most of the people who reach your age have lost that-" he paused, searching for the right word. "that sparkle by now. I heard it was different before the bombs fell, but not now. Growing up in the wasteland, you tend to either go maniacally crazy or die at a pretty young age. Some of us lucky ones make it through long enough to hold onto our sanity and our lives, but just barely." Church said. "And the sparkle's not a bad thing, just rare. And strangely shocking when you actually see it. Like, uh, I don't know... unicorns?"

"Ah, I see." She said, face falling.

"Real smooth, Church." Lucas said, earning a glare from the doctor.

Hugging the stuffed bunny that had been on her bed for who knew how long, she smiled with melancholy. "My dad raised me down in a vault with a bunch of other people. We weren't paragons or anything, but the people down there were good, you know? Most of them anyway." She said, remembering the guards who had shot at her. The security down in the vault was tight; the guards were all incredible marksmen, but somehow, she had gotten away unscathed. With a genuine smile and fond feelings, she knew that they hadn't wanted to hurt her, but couldn't disobey the Overseer's orders. If they had actually wanted to hit her, they would've. They all cared about her, and she missed them.

"A vault? What are you doing out here if you're from a vault?" Lucas asked. Recounting the entire tale of her exile to him, she felt a little better when he placed his hand on hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Know that you'll have a place here for as long as you need to get your feet under you." Lucas said genuinely. "I don't know why, but I like you, little lady. So let me be the first to officially welcome you to Megaton! I had better be gettin' going soon, but holler at Church or me if you need somethin'."

"I can't wait to see the town you have here, Lucas, and it was a pleasure to meet you. And, you know, be saved by you. Both of you." She said, smiling at Church. He quickly looked back down at his charts, and Truth couldn't help but wonder if she'd done something wrong to offend him.

"Adorable, friendly, AND well-mannered?" Lucas asked with a chuckle as he ruffled her hair. "I think we're going to get along just fine. Hell, you treat my people nice, and you're welcome to stay as long as you'd like. You've got a permanent spot her in Megaton, if you want it. You'll have to sleep in the common room once you're discharged, but it's not so bad in there."

"Really?" She asked, face lighting up into a smile. "Of course, Lucas! Thank you. Thank you so much! It's- it's more than I ever could have asked for."

"Anytime, little lady. Anything else I can help you with before getting out of here? Better make it quick though; I'm starting to get smothered by the black cloud coming from Church. Doctor Broody, indeed!" Lucas said, flashing a white smile at her.

"Well, there is one thing. I'm looking for my dad, and Church said a man from a vault passed through here not long ago. Do you know where he went, or even when he left?" She asked hopefully.

"Hmm, 'fraid not, though I can keep my ears open. I do know that he marched through here with that business look in his eye that said he was here to get stuff done, and spent some time at the saloon. I would head up there and talk to Moriarty, the saloon owner, and see if he knows anything. Just watch yourself; Moriarty is a scumbag. When you go up there, make sure to grab Church and take him with you. Moriarty knows better than to try anything with him around."

"Don't _I _get a say in this?" Church asked, crossing his arms with a glare.

"Nope. Not if you want me to keep sending you payin' customers." Lucas replied in a friendly manner. The two were obviously close friends, even if they bashed each other every chance they got.

"Fine, I'll be your babysitter, but you owe me, Simms!" Church called out to him as Lucas walked out of the clinic.

"I don't need a babysitter. What part of 'I'm technically an adult' don't you two understand?" She asked him as he walked around the room, gathering up a few supplies.

"Look kid, out here in the wastes, we don't judge adulthood by number, we judge it by experience and we judge it by kills. From the look of you, you haven't reached your first birthday yet. Believe me when I say you'll thank me for coming with you once you meet Moriarty. Scumbag was a real..._ nice_ way of describing him." He said, sitting down on the edge of the bed and peeling away the bandages from her leg.

"I-" She said, casting down her eyes with guilt. "I turned one a couple days before Lucas found me. There was a man I met right after coming out of the vault, and he was going to rape me and- and he-" she stopped, choking up. The memories were still as fresh as if it had just happened the day before. "He beat me a lot. He was on top of me, and I killed him with my scalpel. It was just instinct, I didn't- I didn't mean to, Church. My dad trained me in hand to hand for as long as I could remember in preparation for coming to the surface, but I never imagined that I would have to- that I would actually-" A tear slid down her face, but she wiped it away as quickly as she could. She had never been an emotionally weak girl, but this was the third time in one day that she had cried in front of a complete stranger. He must have thought her to be a moron.

"That explains all the bruises and the damage to your ribs." Church said with a frown. "I didn't look down, uh, there because I thought I didn't need to, but did he-?"

"No. He had me pinned down, but that's when I killed him. I stuck my scalpel in his neck, and just- he bled out in half a minute. I tried to save him Church, I swear to God I did. But there was just so much blood, and it wouldn't stop coming out... I'm a surgeon, and I've- I've never seen that much before." She said, whispering the last part.

"Hey now, despite what you might think, you did the right thing. I've seen rape victims of raiders before, and it's- it's horrifying." He said with a shudder.

"Raiders?" Truth asked.

"Yeah, raiders. They're like mercenaries. Men and women who do and kill whatever they want, whenever they want. They're pretty unmistakable. They have these god awful crazy hair cuts that I guess they think make them look badass, and their armor typically contains as many spikes and sharp objects as possible." He said, cleaning off the wound on her leg with lord knew what.

"I don't understand. He didn't have crazy hair, or spiky armor. He just looked normal. He was tall and tan, with brown eyes and hair. He wasn't dressed in any strange way, and he didn't have tons of weapons; only a baseball bat, a knife, and a pistol." Truth said. Church looked up at her at that with his mouth open.

"What?! How tall was he? Was the knife long and serrated? What kind of gun was the pistol? Truth, what kind of gun?!" He yelled at her.

"I don't- I don't know. It was dark and-" She said, scrambling away from him until her back hit the wall with fearful, wide eyes. He reached for her, and she slammed her golden hazel eyes shut.

"Hey, hey now. Come on now kid, look at me." Opening them in shock when she felt a gentle, warm touch on her face, she looked up into Church's cerulean eyes. His voice was calm and low when he spoke again, his eyes soft. "Think back. I really need you to remember. Was the blade serrated?" Truth closed her eyes, trying to recall the answer to his particular question.

"Yes, I think so. And I think he had a twenty two, but I'm no weapons expert." She said. He pulled up a spinning chair to her bedside with a sigh, rubbing his temples. Leaning his arms against her bed, he rested his face in his palms.

"I knew it. I knew that son of a bitch was the one." He said, making a fist and hitting it into his open palm.

"Knew what? What did he do? You knew him?" She asked, confused and worried. Church had acted grumpy since she had awoken, and she suspected that he had always acted like that, but now... now he just seemed murderously angry.

"I'm so sorry, kid." He said, leaning over on to the side of her bed to rest his face in his hands once again.

"Sorry for what, Church? You didn't do anything. He was the one that-"

"I know I didn't directly do anything to you, but I could have stopped him. I'm positive that the guy who hurt you was the same man who came into town not even three or four weeks ago. It was suspiciously close to the time one of our local residents, Jenny Stahl, was raped in the middle of the night. The man had tried to kill her, but Lucas had found them and the guy ran off. It was too dark to identify him, but I just had this- this _feeling _that it was him. I guess I was right, because after he came, we found two bodies out in the wastes. One of a little girl, no older than eight or nine, and another of a thirty-something woman. Both of them had been raped, beaten, and killed with a serrated blade. I should have made an accusation against him to Lucas, but I had no proof. We realized the son of a bitch was missing the day before we found you. Guess that explains what happened to him." Church said with a weary sigh. He wasn't looking at her, and Truth guess that it was out of guilt.

"Is she okay?" Truth asked quietly after a few silent moments of processing the information he had just given her.

"I- what?" Church asked, finally looking up at her in slight shock. She wasn't angry? She hadn't yelled at him, or accused him, and he _completely_ deserved it. But... she hadn't. Hadn't even taken pity on herself for what Church could have stopped. No. Instead, she asked about a woman she hadn't even met.

An odd girl, indeed.

"The woman, Jenny, is she... is she alright?" Truth asked.

"I don't know. I'm the only physician this town has got, and she won't even let me _look_ at her, much less touch her. It's been weeks, so she's obviously going to be okay short term, but I'm worried about long term damages." He said with a sigh. His eyes had glazed over as he started talking, staring at the chart in his lap. Suddenly, his face lit up again and he looked at her with a start.

"Are you really a surgeon?" He asked.

"The best one I know. No offense, of course." She said with a smile. "But your stitches are a little sloppy. Not to mention I wouldn't have tied the bandages so tight; a wound like mine needs some air to prevent bacteria from growing. Plus, I would have irrigated it before-"

"Okay, okay. I get the point. Would you do me a favor?" He asked her sincerely.

"Of course, whatever you want. I happen to owe you a lot; you did save my life." She said, resting her hand on his. "Despite the sloppy sutures." She added with a cheeky smirk and a wink. Church couldn't help the smile that spread across his face at her words. He hadn't felt this relaxed with anyone in a long, long time. She was just so _good_. Hell, she had cried over killing a rapist who was attacking her. Most of the people he knew wouldn't have cried after murdering an entire family. Of children. Orphan children... with no legs. _Starving_ orphan children with no legs.

"Talk to her would you?" He asked her, standing up to put away his medical supplies and charts. "She runs this little diner right across from the clinic with her brothers. Strawberry blonde short hair, in her thirties, tall, bit soft around the center."

"Of course. Would you mind if I took some instruments with me to examine her? If she'll allow me to, of course." She said, yawning sleepily and rubbing her eyes. She was blinking slowly, and had a certain sheepish look about her that made him think she needed some more sleep.

"Be my guest, though I don't have much. I'm starting to get low on supplies, and have no damn clue where I can find some more." He said with an agitated sigh while rubbing a hand down his face. He had dark rings under his eyes, and Truth narrowed her eyes at him. He obviously hadn't slept, and the clinic wasn't exactly busy. She was the only patient present, which meant he had spent all of his energy on her, despite what he claimed.

"When was the last time you slept, Church?" She asked him, shushing him when he began to lie. She could always tell when people were lying. "Church." She said flatly, crossing her arms over her chest. He sighed again, visibly slumping.

"I don't know, two days ago." He said.

"What time is it?" She asked him. The room she was in didn't have any windows, and because she had been asleep for so long, she felt strangely disoriented. She had always had a nice internal clock, but she couldn't have guessed whether it was five in the evening or eleven in the morning.

"About two a.m., I think." He said, checking his watch to ensure that was right.

"Two?! You should be in bed, and yeah, that's a doctor's order too!" She said, pointing a finger at him then pointing at the cot next to hers.

"I'll go to bed when I feel the need to go to bed." He said stubbornly, glaring at her. Putting her hands on her hips, she glared right back.

"Don't be a pain." She said, yawning. "I'm sleepy, and I'm not going to sleep unless I know you're going to take care of yourself too." She said, eyelids blinking heavily.

He didn't bother arguing, just smiling a half-smile in consent. Closing her eyes, she was happy that he was taking care of himself. Even though he was a grumpy, broody man, she could tell he was a good one; despite what he might want her to think. She heard him rustling the blankets on the cot next to hers, and was relieved when he turned off the light. It was such a stinking bright light; kind of like that blasted sun. When she had read about the sun and seen pictures of it, she thought it would be an amazing sight to behold. Which, granted, it was, but after a few hours in it, it started getting real, _real_ old.

"Goodnight, doctor." She mumbled into her pillow, already halfway asleep.

"Night, kiddo." He replied.

"Oh, and broody?" She asked him.

"Hmm?"

"You should smile more often. It kinda suites you." She said with a sheepish grin, sleep claiming her once again.


End file.
